I can
by ferretgirl-1124
Summary: The girls can take care of themselves, no matter what the odds. Violence, threats of rape, bad language, sexual situations, dark situations, implied character death, slash. Part one in the 'Trio of Terror' trilogy. [complete]
1. Prolouge

Title: I can  
Pairings: None  
Warnings: Kickass girls, starfire being competent, bad language, idiots  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: PG-13

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **I'm considering making this one into a multiple chapter. I already have a few ideas, but for now it's a one-shot. Oh, and the name is short for 'I can defend myself', 'I can fight', 'I can take care of myself', and all that other good stuff. I hate how the girls are ignored, unless they're being used in a romance, or being bitchs to further one of the other girls romances. Personally, Raven and Bumblebee are my favorite characters, so I dedicate this fic to all the people who write the girls as competent, intelligent people.

* * *

"Dude! It's that Raven chick!" 

"Damn, she's hot. I like Starfire though."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause with Raven you'd have to be nice for a while. With Star, you'd just have to tell her it's a ceremony and she'd probably fuck you on the first date."

"Yeah…but she's strong. I think you could guilt Raven into it." The two slime balls laughed. They were your typical scum; dressed in clothes too tight for their bodies, long unwashed and unkempt hair hanging in their faces. Today was a normal day of bad attempts to pick up girls. However, today they decided to mess with girls just a tad bit out of their leagues.

"Hey, what about Bumblebee?"

"Bumblebee? She's cool too, and she doesn't have that many powers, so she'd be easy." They laughed again. Three eyes twitched in unison, and two glowing hands reached down and pulled them from their seats.

"Guilt me?" A cloaked girl stood a few feet away, controlling the hands made of black aura, "You thought you could _guilt_ me?"

"I am not that foolish! I have been taught Earth customs." A redhead floated near the boys, green eyes blazing and arms crossed, "And you are lucky we are here, or Raven would have sent you to another dimension!"

"Hey boys! Here's some advice; if your gonna insult heroines, at least make sure they can't hear ya." Bumblebee darted up to the boys, her stingers only a few inches from their noses, "Got it?"

The two boys nodded, eyes wide, and Raven dropped them unceremoniously into a heap on the ground, "Remember this. And don't think that just because some girls aren't heroes means you can mess with them." They nodded again, stood up, and bolted away, not even noticing as the three girls returned to the group they had been hanging out with.

"Hey, Bee, you know we could have taken those guys out!" Seven boys waited for them near the entrance of the food court, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I know Sparky. But so could we."

"Just because we're girls doesn't mean we need you to defend us."

"Yes! We have opened many cans of the butt whoop! Now may we please go get pizza? I am hungry!"

The boys watched as they walked off, blinking. Speedy rubbed the back of his neck, then looked at the others, "Hey, did you guys ever think about how strong those three are?"

"I try not too." Robin said dryly as they hurried to catch up.

"Why?"

Beast Boy answered for him, "Can you imagine thinking about that while you're dating one of them? It's a scary thought."

"Oh. Good point."

"Yeah. C'mon, y'all, if we make 'em wait much longer…" Cyborg shuddered, leaving the sentence hanging, and they all darted after the three females.


	2. Surprises and Smoke Bombs

Title: I can  
Pairings: Implied KidFlashJinx, implied AqualadSpeedy  
Warnings: Kickass girls, starfire being competent, bad language, idiots  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: PG-13 

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Well. My ideas solidified, so I had to write them. Then I kept getting the urge to post this, and I was having trouble ignoring it, so I finally just did. A few notes; ever notice how in the flame wars, the girls always get bashed? I think I've only seen one of the guys bashed once, and that was Cyborg. Why is that? I think the guys are just as likely to bug or take advantage of the girls as the girls are to do the same to the boys. Strangeness. You're going to see a few season 5 characters in this, but Terra will not be a part of it. Why? Because I honestly dislike her, and I know that if I try to write her I'll end up insulting her, and that's not fair to the people who do like her. Hope you guys understand.

This chapter is dedicated to Rosemage, my best reviewer who has reviewed all my stuff, and supported me in everything. She is one of the best people I have met on this site.

* * *

Three girls sat in the spacious control room. One was cross-legged, floating, and reading. Another was lounging on the opposite end of the couch, flipping through a magazine. The third was curled up in the middle of the couch, watching 'Fungus World' avidly. 

"So, how long are you going to be in town?" Raven broke the silence.

"Dunno." Bumblebee replied lazily, not looking up from the magazine, "A few days probably. The guys just really wanted to hang out, and we all needed a vacation."

Starfire sighed as her program ended, then glanced at Bumblebee, curious, "You did not want to hang out?"

"Ah, you know me Star. I could do combat practice forever and be happy." She looked up with a grin, and received one in return from the alien.

"Robin is like that too. Perhaps it is a leader thing?"

Raven smirked slightly behind her book, "I think you're right about that, Star." Starfire smiled and settled back into her seat, tilting her head in confusion at what she saw on the TV.

"Friends…why is Gnarrk on the television?"

A magazine and a book were set down at the same time as the other two girls looked, "What's a Gnarrk?" The leader of Titans East blinked at the others.

"That's a Gnarrk." Raven said grimly, nodding towards the TV as she pulled out her communicator, "Robin, you there?"

A masked boy appeared on the small screen, "Hey Raven. Robin's…" Speedy paused, then smirked, "Busy. What's up?"

The sorceress scowled, wondering why she could never get a hold of the person she wanted, "Tell him Gnarrk is calling."

Speedy blinked, "What's a Gnarrk?"

Raven scowled, "Just tell him!" She snapped the communicator closed, and shook her head. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

After a long conversation consisting mainly of 'Gnarrk!' and 'What?', the Titans had finally gotten the story out of the distraught boy. 

"So…Kole is missing?" Robin chanced, hoping he had gotten it right.

Gnarrk nodded, "Gnarrk! Gnarrk gnarrk gnarrk."

Bumblebee stared at the screen, head tilted, mouth hanging open slightly, "Can you guys really understand him?"

Cyborg grimaced and shrugged, "Kinda. We basically just guessed 'cause Kole isn't there, and because he's so freaked."

Robin rubbed his chin, ignoring the people talking behind him, "Was it Dr. Light again?"

The caveman shrugged, and hung his head, "Gnarrk…"

"Alright, Gnarrk. We'll start looking for her. Robin out." The masked leader closed the screen, then sighed and leaned against the console, "Cyborg, I need you to go pick him up."

"What? Man, he's half-way across the world!"

"We need his help."

"We can't even understand him!" The two boys glared at each other, but Cyborg was the first to look away, "Alright, ya spiky-haired, paranoid little…" He left the room, still grumbling.

Robin watched him go, then sighed and turned to the others, "Alright, we need to –"

"Hey!" A blast of wind hit them as a red streak flew by. It darted through all the rooms, checking them thoroughly, before appearing in the control room again, "You guys seen Jinx?"

The teens stood, blinking, then scowled. Speedy pulled out a comb in an attempt to fix his hair, and glared at the boy, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Kid Flash!" He grinned, then craned his neck to look around the room, "So have you?"

"Seen Jinx? No. Why are you here? And how did you get in here?" Bumblebee flailed her arms and glared at the boy.

He simply grinned in return. "I can move through stuff. So you haven't seen her?" He paused, "Weird. She was supposed to meet me for lunch."

Robin stood for a second longer, stunned, then shook his head, "Um…okay." The dark haired boy frowned, "Wait…first Kole, and now Jinx. Anyone else see a pattern?"

"It's only happened twice. It could still be a coincidence." Raven said, frowning as she saw movement on the screen from the corner of her eye, "What the…?"

"Waven!"

* * *

The two teams watched nervously as the mage paced, her dark eyes glowing, "Okay, it's not a coincedince!" She snarled, not noticing how much she was scaring the two children on screen. 

"Raven, calm down. We'll find her." Aqualad ventured hesitantly.

She whirled around and glared at him and he cowered as something in the kitchen exploded. "They took my kid!"

"Waven!" The older of the two children whimpered as the younger began to cry, "We want Melvin back!"

Titans East exchanged glances as Raven attempted to calm them down, "Hey, what's going on? Who are these kids?"

"While we were fighting the brotherhood of evil, Raven took three children to a place that was supposed to be safe for them. They were attacked, and Raven attempted to defend them. However, they saved themselves. I believe during the trip they became very close." Starfire said softly, watching as her friend soothed her 'adopted' children.

"Butwhydid she call the one her kid?" Speedy asked, eyebrow arched.

"Because, they are. After all the time she spent defending them, she basically claimed them." Beast Boy muttered, making sure that Raven didn't hear.

After a few minutes, the young heroes said good-bye, and Raven turned back to the others, pulling up her hood to hide her fear. "We need to find them. They took Melvin, and she was supposed to be safe. Who else are they going to kidnap?"

"Well…how do we know they were kidnapped?" They jumped, and glanced at the speedster. After being unusually quiet for the past few minutes, his voice had startled the others.

"Three heroines go missing, all in the same day?" The harsh, clipped tones in Robin's voice made them wince, "What other explanation is there?"

They stood in silence for a second, then Beast Boy scowled, "But if that's true..." His eyes turned to the three girls in the room, "That means they're in danger too!"

Raven, Bumblebee, and Starfire exchange quick looks that clearly said 'Oh dear god, no. Please don't let this happen. Unfortunately for them and their egos, it did.

"We have no other choice. You three will have guards with you twenty-four-seven until we find them."

* * *

Half-way through town, Cyborg shuddered for no obvious reason. He had the strangest feeling that Robin had just done something amazingly stupid, and that some one was in danger. He made a face and shrugged, deciding that that feeling was produced by nerves over what had happened to Kole. Of course, nothing else was going wrong, so there was nothing to worry about.

* * *

Starfire's room was being used by all three girls that night, because it was less creepy then Raven's, and because the boys all wanted the girls in one room, since it would be easier to protect them. Speedy sat outside the door, while Beast Boy sat perched on the windowsill in hawk form. The others were in the main room, keeping an eye on the security cameras. 

"Couldn't you teleport us out?" Bumblebee's boredom had gotten to the point were she was willing to bug Raven.

"No." The gothic girl didn't even bother looking up from her book.

"But why?"

"Because, Beast Boy is watching us, and if we close the blinds he'll know something is wrong and he'll call the others." She sighed, then lay her book down on the aliens bed and let her cloak envelope her. For the first time, Bumblebee noticed how tired she looked, "I know you're bored. I am too. If it was up to me, I'd be meditating on the roof right now." She bit her, lip, trying to think of something, "Maybe one of the guys would be willing to bring a TV in or something."

"Friends..." Starfire broke into their conversation hesitantly, rubbing her arm in an unconsciously nervous gesture, "If we are to be watched at all times, how do we change?"

The other two scowled. "They'll close the blinds and have Aqualad or Speedy come in here." Raven muttered, pulling up her hood to hide a blush.

The innocent redhead hesitated, eyes darting around the room, "But...why..."

"Because.They're the only gay guys on either of the teams." Bumblebee rubbed at the bridge of her nose. She had known about her teammates sexuality, and who they were dating, for while now. Hell, everyone did. But that didn't make the thought of them watching her change any less embarrassing.

Starfire stared at her, one eyebrow arched slightly. "What is 'gay', and why does it allow them to watch us?" She said, now sounding slightly angry.

The leader of Titans East looked at her, blinked, then turned to Raven, "You get to tell her."

Raven sighed again and rubbed at her temples, "Well, you see Star, it's like this. Not all guys like girls..." Bumblebee walked over to the windows, trying to ignore the conversation behind her. Hearing Raven give this explanation was something she could have lived all over her life without. She glanced towards Beast Boy's perch and frowned.  
"Guys? Where's BB?" Raven stopped halfway through a sentence and glanced towards the window, then frowned and walked over beside Bumblebee.

"He should be right there..." A figure dropped down in front of them suddenly, causing them to jump back and scream. The boy standing in front of them had pure white eyes and wore white pants, shirt, and shoes, along with a white mask that hid all but his eyes. All were covered in strange black markings that seemed oddly like symbols from Raven's books.

"What in Azar?" Raven spoke for all of them, but the only response was a small smirk obvious even through the mask, and the hiss of gas as he set off a smoke bomb that had been hidden in the room all day.


	3. Face to Face

Title: I can  
Pairings: Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, AqualadxSpeedy, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash  
Warnings: Kickass girls, starfire being competent, bad language, idiots, slash, violence, threats of rape  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: PG-13 

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Hm. First really long chapter. Rather proud of this; it seems to flow rather well. However, I think I have to make it rated 'M', because of the stuff implied in this chapter, and stuff actually done later on. This is my first action fic, and it's quickly becoming less humorous and more dark. Don't know if that's good or bad. Anyways, hope you people enjoy this fic. Oh, and to answer a few comments; yes there are pairings, and the boys powers will come into play later. They're plenty strong, but I want this to focus around the strength of the females. Also, while Jinx isn't technically a heroin, she isn't a bad guy anymore, and the kidnapper has their own reasons for taking her. Yes, Nightmare, Neko, and Trickster belong to me.

Dedicated to Meiriona, a fellow slash fan who supports me through all my SpeedyxAqualadness. Thanks!

* * *

Pitch-black. Darkness. It was as though a heavy satin blanket had been thrown over her face, muffling her thoughts and drowning the light. From a distance, what had to be miles away, she heard unfamiliar voices muttering all too familiar words, words that chilled her blood. 

"Should we kill her? She's going to be a bitch to put up with, and I don't think 'Mr. Oo I give you bad dreams!' over there put enough spells on her." Male voice, soft and light, filled with hatred, anger, and even a tinge of fear. However, his smirk was evident in his voice, and it gave the girl chills. Why was he so happy about killing her? Who was this guy?

"No!" A harsher voice, more gutteral, and just as male, "I put plenty of spells in here. Besides, she'll kill you if you take away her prey before she gets a chance to play with it."

"He's right, I would." This voice was female, sweet and very out of place considering the circumstances, "You know I like to play cat and mouse with heroes..." She giggled, ignoring the groans of annoyance that followed her comment.

"Neko, do you have to use that joke every single time? We've heard it too much, and this chick isn't awake yet!" That was the first boy, the one she was quickly beginning to think of as 'The Sadist'.

"Are you sure about that, boys?"

"Huh?" Two male voices in unison.

"Look. Her eyelids are twitching; she's trying to keep them closed to hear our conversation. And her vital signs changed." A small hand with eerie sharp nails tapped her on the cheek, "Wake up my little witch! Don't you want to see what we have in store for you?"

Raven hesitated, then gave up the loosing battle and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was bright gold. Then, the gold melted before her as the face moved back, becoming eyes, and around the eyes...fur? Fur and cat ears.

She blinked again, and finally the girl, _'Neko?',_ stepped back enough for the disoriented sorceress to actually get a good look at her. The girl was average hieght, about 5'4, and her slender form was much more lithe then curvy. She seemed to be covered in a thin layer of fur, enough that her skin was visible, but not enough that she look 'normal'. A long tail whipped around her body, expressing the annoyance that her face refused to. Her ears stood perked on top of her head, and the fur coating them was the same mottled pattern of brown, black, and gray as all the rest of it.

"Ah, our little witch is awake. Hello, dear. I'm Neko. This is Nightmare," The boy she motioned to was the one that had set off the bomb, dressed in the same outfit as before, except that his mask now only covered half his face, revealing hair as white as his eyes, "And this is Trickster, my own personal monkey."

"Hey!" The boy standing on her other side, the sadist, scowled and crossed his arms, before turning back to Raven and winking. She shuddered, noticing a sudden pain in her shoulders, waist, wrists, and ankles, before Trickster's voice dragged her still drugged mind back to the matters at hand, "Glad we kidnapped a hottie this time."

The now-leering boy was a few inches taller then Neko, about even with Nightmare. He was the exact opposite from the other boy; black hair and eyes, eyes that seemed oddly like Aqualad's, if Aqualad's eyes had been filled with hate and coldness that seemed almost palpable. He wore a simple black outfit, with a black trenchcoat that fell to his ankles. He seemed to blend into the shadows, and there was a darkness about him that scared even her.

"What..." The gothic girl licked her lips and swallowed, unable to force words through her dry throat, "What's going on?"

Neko giggled, "We kidnapped you, little one." She motioned to the girl, "Haven't you noticed the bonds?"

Raven looked down. The pain she had felt was metal shackles; one for each wrist and ankle. A large one held her back by the shoulders, while another controlled her waist. All of the metal was inscribed with spells -- powerful ones, too, if her inability to use her powers indicated anything. Her eyes then darted around the room. It was small, much like the room her friends had built before her father's attack. This ones spells were not for safety, however, but for control.

She hesitated. She knew hostage situations, and knew what they expected her to do; beg and plead. And while she doubted they would underestimate her, maybe doing what they expected would give her a chance to do something. She opened her mouth to plead, then winced. Her head hurt, her body hurt, and begging would make her ego hurt. More then that, though, she had the strangest feeling that that would engourage Trickster, and she did not want that. The boy was already unnerving, but she had no doubt that it could get worse.

After a few seconds, she realized that the female captor was talking again, "...don't worry, though, we don't plan to hurt you quite yet. You see, I have a few old grudges to settle first." She smiled, no doubt attempting to look comforting but only managing to make Raven more paranoid.

"We've never fought you. What grudges would you have to settle?" She managed to croak out warily, eyes watching Neko with a drugged sort of calm, not revealing the panic she felt.

"Oh, sweet, I've watched you enough that I hate you without ever having to fight you." The cat girl leaned in, eyes narrowed over a malicious smirk, "Do you know why, little bird?" She watched Raven mute head shake with a strange mixture of amusement and exasperation, "Of course not. It's because you're weak. Oh, sure, your powers are strong enough. But you've never really used them, really appreciated them. You even had the chance to join with some one who could have increased your powers, made you truly impressive...and you turned him down. And for what? Your little friends!"

The sneer in her voice contrasted sharply with her sweet, almost wistful smile. Raven arched an eyebrow, slinking back in her chair as far as possible. This girl was insane. And not in the 'Walking-the-thin-line-between-genuis-and-insanity' way, like Slade. This was flat out psycho, and she was becoming convinced that Neko was only loosely connected to what the sorceress considered to be reality.

Nightmare and Trickster watched the girls, almost completely expressionless except for the small smirks hovering around the corners of their lips. They were obviously enjoying the show on a fucked up level Raven didn't even want to think about.

"Alright, little bird, that's enough talking for today. Be good, and maybe tomorrow I'll tell you a little more." The smile shifted slightly, finally showing the madness residing behind the girls eyes, "Be warned, however, if you're bad...well, then I'll have to let Trickster deal with you, and he does love his little toys." With a final giggle the girl turned and headed out of the room, followed closely by the boys that were clearly more like minions then partners.

Left alone in the silence, Raven was forced to notice how white everything was. All parts of the small, circular room were made of the same dull white metal, and all inscriptions and writings were in white paint. Even her outfit had changed, though she really didn't want to think about that and what it meant. So she sat, and what seemed like hours passed. Not even mediating helped the mindnumbing boredom.

'_Anyone who ever complained about being in the dark should try being in the light...'_ Her head was tilted, laying on her shoulder, and she stared ahead blankly. The brightness was blinding, and she was sure this had to be one of the tortures they had in mind for her. Who could keep their sanity in this...snow...? Cold...harsh...her eyes slid shut and she sank thankfully into sleep, grateful to block out the white if only for a few hours.

* * *

Everything drifted in an odd haze, creating tracks before her eyes when anything moved. Not that that said much; nothing had moved in the room for a few hours. It was still disorienting though. After another few seconds of staring at the mirror across from her, she tried agian to struggle. They had done something to her, the cat-girl and her friends. It was...suppresing her somehow. Why couldn't she break free?

The bonds holding her wrists and ankles to the walls should have been easy to escape. All of the bonds should have been. Reflected back in the mirror was a sight that scared her; her manicals, of course, but there was more. A few feet down the wall was a chair, and strapped to it was a familiar pink-haired girl. Jinx stared back at her grimly. She hadn't been drugged, but the broken arm splinted and strapped awkwardly to her chest showed that she wasn't in exactly the best shape.

On a small bed in the corner lay a rock, a collar around it's neck. The collar prevented Kole from returning to her human form, and the chain connecting the collar to the wall made sure she couldn't move even if something did go wrong. Next to the bed lay a young girl, still unconcious with a dark blue and yellow bruise spreading from her temple to her jaw. She was slumped against the bed frame, close enough that she could lean her head on the matress, but not so that she could actually climb up. Small handcuffs were wrapped around her wrists, and she had about six inches of chain on both side. Besides that, she was powerless and immoble.

Finally, in a dark corner that Starfire had trouble focusing on, a table stood. On the table, a small jar was attached, and within it was a bug. This particular bug, however, was screaming very rudely and very loudly. Bumblebee darted around the jar, clawing at the collar that stuck her at the miniscule size she was beginning to hate. This was the most insulting thing they could have done. The jar was bolted to the table, and only the small holes in the lid made sure she still had oxygen.

The young tameranean frowned. All of them were accounted for...except for Raven. She did another slow, painful survey of the room and frowned. Yes, Raven was missing. She hesitated, letting her tired mind take its time to focus. Okay; They were here. Hurt, but here. Except for Raven. What did that mean? Was she being experimented upon by the disgusting villains?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft whimper from the corner. Starfire, Bumblebee, and Jinx turned towards the sound and weren't overly surprised to see that Melvin was awake and crying. The small girl stared at them, her pigtails slowly coming loose and her eyes red and swollen, "Where's Bobby?"

"Bobby?" Jinx said, blinking. She had been so close to snapping at the younger girl, but her surprise sidetracked her. She was amazed the girl wasn't asking for her parents; Bobby sounded more like an imaginary friend. It could be her way of coping, but it was still strange.

"Hey, kid, calm down." Bumblebee called, looking calmer then she had in over an hour, "Your name is Melvin, right?"

The blonde sniffed and nodded, rubbing away her tears as best she could, "Uh-huh. How did you know?"

"Raven told me."

The girls eyes widen and her eyes darted around the room, "Raven? She's here? Where?" The older girls exchanged nervous glances and Jinx sighed, deciding to be kind to the kid.

"We...don't know. But we're pretty sure she is."

Melvin's face twisted as she tried to control tears, "Oh, look, you made the little princess cry..." A soft voice cooed from the doorway and the older girls winced, recognizing it. The nine year old craned her head to get a look at the speaker and then pulled back, terrified by her and her friends.

"Don't be scared sweetheart." Neko patted the child on the head, "Wouldn't you like to know where your big sister is?"

* * *

"Robin, calling Cyborg. Cyborg, are you there?"

"Yeah man. I'm on my way; what's up?"

"The girls were kidnapped."

"...WHAT? Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

"We just found out! Melvin, Kole, Jinx, Raven, Starfire, and Bumblebee."

"Bee...? They took Bee?"

"Yeah! They took all of them, Cyborg!"

"Who? Slade? Brother Blood?"

"No. I've checked up on all of them. None of them could have kidnapped the girls."

"Fuck. I'll get back as soon as I can."

"I need you to make another stop first."

"What? Rob, man, we need to find them!"

"Melvin was kidnapped. So was Raven. Timmy, Teether, and Bobby are freaking; I need you to stop and reassure them, at the very least. If you absolutey have to, you can bring them back."

"...Fine. I'll be back tonight."

"Good. See you then. Robin out."

* * *

The boys sat scattered around the control room, drooping over various objects. Beast Boy sat at the kitchen table, head buried in his hands and hair more tousled then usual from the way he kept running his hands through it. Aqualad and Speedy sat curled up on the couch, whispering tersely, trying to think of a villian they hadn't considered. Mas y Menos sat leaning against the side of the counter, staring at pictures of Starfire and attempting to hold back tears. Meanwhile, Robin paced, checking the clock every few seconds.

"Robin, when is going to get back?" The green boy slammed his hands agianst the table, unable to bear the waiting any more.

"In about an hour." Kid Flash appeared suddenly flopping on the couch next to the other boys. They all jumped, then scowled, slowly becoming more accustomed to his startling way of entering the room.

"Damn, Flash!" Speedy scowled at him, "If you can move that fast, why don't you just check the world for possible suspects?"

"I did. Didn't find anything." His cocky grin was gone for once, and he looked genuinely worried.

"You searched the whole world and didn't find anything? How is that possible?" Beast Boy glared at the speedster.

"Woah, dude, just 'cause your girlfriend isn't here doesn't mean you need to yell at me!" Kid Flash returned the glare, and threw in a pout and crossed arms, "I miss Jinx, but we have to work together or they'll be gone for good!"

Robin winced and rubbed his temples, trying not to think about all the things that could be happening to Starfire. To any of them, for that matter. He sighed and leaned against the wall, lacking the energy to make even the most lackadascal attempt to stop the quickly developing fight between Beast Boy and Kid Flash. Fortunately, Aqualad stepped in and calmed them down.

"Guys, save your energy for the sick fucks that did this." The other two hesitated, then resumed their previous seats, still muttering under their breaths. Robin sighed again, and fidgeted, giving the clock one more look. None of them moved much over the next hour; in fact, Beast Boy was about to fall asleep was Cyborg thundered into the room.

"Yo, Robin! I brought the little kids, and that one threw up in the t-ship!" He pointed accusingly to Teether who lay in Bobby's arms, sobbing. The older of the children stepped forward, diffiance written all over his features.

"I told ya Teether would get sick!" He scowled and crossed his arms, "And you made him cry!"

"Which made you cry. I know, I was there!" Cyborg bit his lip to control the words he would so like to say Timmy. The screaming that had gone along with the boy's tantrum had cracked most of the windows; it would take him at least two weeks to fix all the damage, and the annoying little bastard didn't even care. All he wanted was to see Melvin and Raven.

"Woah, Cy, calm down!" Robin put a hand on his arm, tense lines etched all over his face, "They're just kids."

Cyborg snorted, and glared at the boy, then flopped down on the couch, exhausted. Beast Boy glared at him, "Dude, get a move on! We have to find them!"

"Well I'd love to, BB, but unlike some people, I haven't been sitting around all day! I'm tired!" He returned the glare, and the hostility returned to the room effortlessly. Robin gritted his teeth and stepped between them.

"Enough! We're all stressed and tired. Get some sleep, and we'll start work tomorrow."

"Don't you care?" Beast Boy stood up, hands clenched at his sides.

"Of course I do!" Robin's look made the shapeshifter take a step back, "But we can't find them like this! Now get to bed, all of you! That's an order!" He watched as the boys left grudgingly, heading towards the dorms. They were going to end up with three of four in each room, but sleep was more important then modesty, and so were the girls.


	4. Plots and Schemes

Title: I can  
Pairings: Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
Warnings: Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: R 

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Okay, this and chapters like it are the reasons this is rated 'R'. Please, please don't pelt me with rotten vegetables because of what lies ahead. This chapterscontains OCs (which, dispite all their creepy, creepy flaws are much loved by me), plotting, planning, scheming, and hypnotism. This is my first very dark chapter, and to be completely truthful, what goes on makes me pretty sick. And yet I wrote, and am proud of the scene. Not of the characters or what occurs, but of the scene itself. Trickster is such a fun, twisted character to write. Well...enjoy! And remember; no pelting the author, and no flames. This is rated 'R' for a reason people.

* * *

A gentle poke, a soft whisper. He muttered as the touch invaded his sleep and warped his dreams, "Nuh...tacos...bad..." A sigh, and another poke, this one just a little bit less gentle. He looked over his shoulder, blinking sleepily, "What?"

"Why did they just take the girls?"

Aqualad blinked at his boyfriend, then rolled onto his other side to face him. After all that had happened, the others hadn't had the heart or the patience to make the two sleep in seperate rooms, and since Mas y Menos had claimed the other bed it had left the couple to share one. Not that they were complaining. Aqualad yawned, then asked again, "What...?"

"The girls. Why did they just take them?" Speedy scowled and propped his head up on his hand.

"Robin thinks they thought it would be cool to mess around with heriones." Aqualad said, still half asleep, and barely aware of what was going on. Speedy sighed and waved his hand.

"Yes, I know what Robin thinks. What do you think?"

Aqualad hesitated, then rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get his sleep clogged brain to focus. "I...don't know." His eyes shifted nervously and he rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, "I guess I agree with him."

Speedy's mask narrowed, indicating that his eyes were doing the same. He pounced, landing on the other boy and pinning him effortlessly, "You're hiding something..."

The Atlatean blushed and glanced away, refusing to meet his boyfriend's eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And you're a bad liar." He caught Aqualad's chin and made him face him, eyes pleading. "Garth, Bee's life is at stake! If you know anything, you could save her!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Hissing softly so as not to wake the twins, Aqualad glared up at the other boy, eyes cold.

Speedy scowled, "Obviously not, if you're willing to hide something!"

"I'm doing it for Beast Boy!" Aqualad snarled, then sighed and let his head flop back against the pillow, knowing he had to say something, "When I was patrolling the ocean, I saw him fall from the ledge, and I went to go make sure he was okay. Which was a good thing, because he was unconcious." He scowled, not noticing Speedy's shocked expression. "He was just floating there, twitching, and when I pulled him out onto the beach he didn't remember anything that had happened."

"...Nothing?" Speedy rolled over and stared at the ceiling, eyes wide with shock.

"Nothing." The Atlantean said grimly, then turned, threw an arm around Speedy's waist and buried his head in his chest, "The people who kidnapped the girls...it's not any of the normal villians, Roy. These ones have some powers. Beast Boy was screaming, but he didn't seem to know what was going on. It was like he was under a spell...a bad one."

Speedy shivered and wrapped his arms around the other boy protectively, "You need to tell Robin."

"I know."

"As soon as possible."

"I know." Aqualad leaned up and pressed his lips against his boyfriends, then curled up again, "I will tomorrow. Right now...we all need sleep." Speedy hesitated, then tightened his grip, pulled the blankets up, and slowly let himself drift off, trying to ignore the nagging worries in the back of his mind. Nothing could happen in one night. Surely it would be best to let everyone get some well deserved rest.

* * *

Cold. Very cold now. Her eyelids felt strained from being forced closed, but better strained eyes then enouraging the feeling of cold by looking at the walls. The white, white walls, so much like some god awful, unholy snow. How the hell could this happen? It was one color, for gods sake. Just one repeating, neverending color. So why did it bother her so much? Why did it hurt to the point that she wanted her hands loose just so that she could claw out her eyes? The sounds of the door opening and closing jolted her from her thoughts, but when she saw who it was she wished to be in the room forever rather then talk to him.

Trickster strolled towards her slowly, grinning widely. His hands were stuck in his pockets nonchalantly and his black hair hung in his face messily; if it weren't for the circumstances, he might have been attractive. Well, the circumstances and the insanity that showed in his eyes so clearly. "Well hello, sweety!" His voice was sickly sweet, obviously mocking Neko.

Raven's dark purple eyes narrowed and she shrunk back, trying to watch everything he was doing at all times, "Why are you here?"

"Well...I got bored, and Neko got annoyed. So she said I could go visit one of you. I figured it would be fun to watch your face while I messed with the kid, but I need something more, and Neko said that turning off the lights now would ruin the effects." He grinned and took one hand from his pocket to stroke her cheek in an eerily sweet and caring gesture.

She didn't know what kind of game he was playing, but she was scared, and confused. Her mind tried quickly to sort through his babble. Mess with the kid? That was easy enough to figure out; he was going to use Melvin to get to her. The thought nauseated her, and a her stomach twisted into a knot, aching more with every second. But what did turning off the lights have to do with it? And what effects? Of course, that one wasn't too hard to figure out either; the room did have a hypnotic effect, one that no doubt took a few days to set in.

"Oh, and I have to feed you." The latest comment jolted her, and she blinked, unable to stop the question from escaping her lips.

"_What_?"

"Yep. She said to make myself useful while I entertained myself." He left the room and came back with a small trolley that held a bowl of soup, a glass of some sort of juice, and, in an obvious attempt to add irony to his twisted fun, a single daisy in a beautiful vase. Her disgust must have shone on her face because he grinned and bowed. "A lunch fit for a queen."

"Or a prisoner."

"Haven't you ever read a fairy tale? Queens and princesses are always imprisoned." He leaned close, brushed a strand of hair from her face, and whispered into her ear, "It's kind of romantic, don't you think?" His voice was soft, darkly seductive, and Raven was frozen by the fear that she was trying to convince herself was only disgust. Fear or panic could get her killed at this point.

"No. Very few things are romantic, and this is not one of them. This is sick, and wrong." He smiled gently and ran his fingers through her hair, before turning to the trolley.

"Lunch time, my queen."

She turned her head and glared at the wall. "I'm not eating anything. It's probably drugged." Her tone was cold and calm, face and voice deviod of emotion. Unfortunately the boy was smarter then she had thought.

"Of course, but only a little bit. C'mon, my lady, eat up!" He held a spoonful of soup towards the girl, smiling innocently. When she turned her face away, he tutted "Now, that won't do!" He moved forward with a speed she wouldn't have assiocated with him, grabbed her hair, pulled her towards him, and shoved the spoon into her mouth, smiling as she gagged and finally swallowed the soup, ''Good girl!"

His cheerful banter continued throughout the meal, most of which was forcefed to the struggling sorceress. Finally, once the glass and bowl were drained, her head was feeling pleasently fuzzy. She knew it wouldn't last long, but the numbness dulled the nightmare and it was worth whatever she'd have to pay to keep that feeling for a while. Unfortunately, Trickster planned on claiming that pay immediately and forcefully.

At any other time, the fact that the second boy she had ever kissed was a villian would have disgusted her. But as his hands roamed over her body she could do nothing but store the information in the back of her mind and let herself sink into the effects of the drugs, hoping it would end soon.

* * *

The lights overhead were buzzing. They had been for a while now, and it was slowly driving her up the wall. If she could have talked to the others, she would have felt better, but they were all asleep. Which actually made sense, considering what time it was. Or...what time it felt like. With no windows and no clocks, the girl could do nothing more then guess. It was about 1:30 A.M. or so, if her guess was at all accurate. She sighed then began pacing.

She couldn't help but wonder how Sparky and her boys were doing. It couldn't have been more then two days since this had all happened, but it seemed like so much more. The worst part of all this was that she knew that the guys wouldn't know where to look. These were new villians, alright, and high up on the creepy scale, for different reasons. Trickster was a voyuer, and she had seen from his eyes that he had been mentally undressing all of them, except for Melvin. Thank god for small favors.

Neko was just insane. Not to mention completely convinced that all things she had done were good things. She seemed so proud of herself, and her strange control over the two boys was eerie. She was also plotting something deeper then just the simple kidnapping. There was a deep rooted hatred and far too much intelligence in the cat like female. All Bumblebee knew was that the plot involved the boys in some way; she genuinely seemed to hate all things male.

Nightmare...he ws just strange. She didn't really know anything about him. He usually staye quiet, but was obvious dangerous. He was also obviously intrested in them, but not in the way Trickster was. More of a science expirament way. She didn't know what his or Trickster's powers were, but she had a feeling Neko could put up one hell of a fight with those claws of hers.

"Bumblebee." The miniature girl jumped, then glanced in the direction of the pink-haired witch. The two were on tense terms with one another, but fighting at this point would just make things worse.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think the bitch has planned?" Jinx was exhausted; they hadn't been fed in at least eight hours, and her body was using all of it's resourses to try and heal the painfully broken arm that dangled near her chest.

"I don't know, but she had this plotted out well before hand. The collars, knowing to break your arm, to shrink me down, and to keep Starfire drugged." Bumblebee sighed and slouched down against the side of the jar, arms crossed.

"Why does she do that?" The ex-HIVE student had been very curious about that detail of their captivity for a while now.

"Star's emotions are fueled off emotions. So if she's to drugged to really feel something, she won't have the strength to break free." A few seconds of silence passed, then Jinx scowled.

"She really does know us...but do you think she took Raven?"

"Well...she told Melvin she hadn't..." Bumblebee winced, remembering the look on the little girls face as she had heard that, "But not taking her would be just as dangerous as trying to contain her. She can teleport, and when she gets mad, it's not a pretty sight."

Jinx nodded and leaned her head back against the back of the chair, thinking this through, "Maybe she's seperated from us, because they need stronger containments for her."

Bumblebee glanced at her sharply, then smiled, "Now we're gettin' somewhere!"

"What the hell are you taking about?" The witch cast her fellow leader a weary glare.

"We need to keep talking and thinking. The sooner we can figure out their plan, the sooner we can escape."

"You heroes and your optimism."

The Titans East leader grinned and stretched, "C'mon, Jinx, let's get to work, before they come back."

"Goddamn optimism." Jinx mumbled, then sighed and listened as Bumblebee began reeling off theories. Just then, her arm started to throb and she couldn't help but scowl. How much more perfect could this little trip get?

* * *

To say that she was pleased would be an understatement. This plan of her's was just going over so well! She was so sick of the titan brats. They were amazingly strong, and yet they almost never faught to their full abilities. They often needed to be rescued by the boys, which Neko knew was crap. Those girls could take care of themselves; they just didn't want to. Which was where her plan came in. She would, in one move, show to the public how weak the pathetic excuses for females were, and prove that she was strong enough to take down the coveted boys. She would be the most feared villian in the world!

Ironically enough, it would be two boys that would help her achieve this goal. However, Trickster and Nightmare were different from most males. She had them completely under control; they would literally sing and dance at the snap of her fingers. This was fairly lucky, mainly because of their powers.

Trickster had the ability to blend into shadows, he could sense traps, and he had his own dimension. Until they had met, the perverted boy had only known about the first two. She had quickly realized that his luck at finding things he needed had not been luck at all. Since then, Trickster had trained himself and could now store and remove things from the dimension at will. Neko had no idea why he had been born with the time rift attatched to him, but it certainly made things easier.

Nightmare live up to his name. He could literally see into your subconcious and find your greatest fear. He would then project the image into your mind, causing fear for you and confusion for the people watching you run around and scream. It was actually very amusing. He also had a natural aura of fear, so that all around him felt constant terrror. Unless of course you were used to it. She had helped train him too; all he had known when he was younger that people tended to run from him, and so he had learned to use it to his advantage.

The pretty catgirl leaned back in her chair, watching the news with mild amusement. She was glad to have the control room to herself for once; it wasn't small, but she wasn't annoyed by the thought of the room getting cramped. She was annoyed by the idea of the noise the idiots made when they were around. So, watching the TV in peace for once was very nice. She turned her attention back to the news.

"...And we have special visitors in Jump City this week. We have been informed by Robin, leader of the Teen Titans, that the female Titans have taken a weeks vacation and that all male honorary Titans and Titans East are spending that time here. Great news for everyone but villians!"

Neko giggled, and laced her fingers behind her head. So, they planned to find her within the week, eh? Well, she considered that a challenge. The irony of the last comment amused her to no end, for she had no doubt that she was one of the people happiest about the situation.

Oh, she would enjoy this week. She would enjoy it very, very much.


	5. Bathed in Blood

Title: I can  
Pairings: Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
Warnings: Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: R 

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Yet another chapter that lives up to the 'R' rating. I've been putting this one off for a while now; I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't want to write it. This one isn't far from the end, and while I'm trying not to rush it I'm definately not going to let it linger. I'm proud of how far out of my usual range this fic is, but at the same time it's creepy enough that I just want it over with.

**Dedicated to: **Shadow 929, for being there for me and reviewing all of my fics. I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Drifting in and out of consciousness, strange dreams haunting her. Three voices, soft voices, plotting her demise. This had been her world for three days now, but the worst part of it all had been suppressed for the time being. When she could use it to fuel her rage she would call on the memory, but till then she was content with pretending it had never happened.

"Is she asleep?"

"Yep."

"Good. It's been three days, so if the hypnotism hasn't worked by now, it never will." Neko voice was smug, and she could almost picture the cat girl standing and smirking at her two cohorts.

"Does that mean we can show her now?" Trickster spoke up, voice filled with excitement. Whatever they were planning was something he liked, which automatically meant that it was going to be bad for her.

"Yes. Nightmare, do you remember what you need to do?"

"Of course. Can I make it gory?"

"The gorier the better!" Neko said cheerfully, her silver bell like giggle unnerving. Raven had often wondered how some one who acted so sweet could be so fucked up, and had come to the conclusion that she was probably only like this because she was getting her way. The psychotic female no doubt had a hell of a temper when things went awry, "Oh, darling, wake up!"

Raven's eyes fluttered open as Neko's voice pulled her out of the haze she had been floating in during the villain's conversation. She made sure to stare ahead blankly, not wanting to alert them to the fact that she was more awake then she seemed. Neko tutted and shook her head sadly. "Bad news, little witch. One of your friends escaped." Neko smiled at the shock and hope that spread over the captive's face, knowing the pain would be even worse after that, "But, fortunately, we caught her! Unfortunately, Trickster was a little…over zealous."

Trickster had been standing behind the girl, smiling, his hands behind his back. Now he brought out what he had been hiding, smirking as Raven's face fell and went blank as she tried to suppress tears. The flyswatter that the boy held was covered in blood, but it was what was stuck to the plastic that had convinced the sorceress it was true.

"I'm sorry dear, but she did try to escape." They gave her sympathetic looks, carefully controlling grins, and turned and filed out. Nightmare paused in the doorway and looked over his shoulder, pure white eyes reminding her far too much of the walls of her prison. For a second, the room was turned into a bad dream come to life. Blood, bodies…Beast Boy lay in front of her, shards of glass marring his face and driven deep into his stomach. Then she blinked and all that remained was a horrific afterimage, one she gladly focused on. That, at least, wasn't real.

If she thought only about that, then maybe she could forget about the one bloodstained wing that Trickster had so smugly showed her.

* * *

"I thought you said we were going to show her." Trickster whined and leaned against the wall that separated the two cells. The girls had no idea how close they were to each other, and that had been part of the fun. But now the boy wanted to show them, because the worst torture was to have something you wanted but could not have held up in front of you. 

"I will. But if she sees them calm after what just happened, she might be suspicious." The leader deadpanned as she explained the situation to the boy that she would always consider to be worthless.

"But...how would she know that they're all in the same room?"

Neko growled under her breath and glared at Nightmare, "If she sees all her little friends in one room, she's going to assume that Bumblebee was there too. Do you idiots understand now?"

The two boys exchanged looks, then shrugged and nodded. The cat girl smiled contently and dragged her claws down the side of Nightmare's face gently, leaving slight indents, "Now, it's show time. You both better have your parts down, because if anything goes wrong, so help me god, I will kill you." She giggled and tapped a code into the keypad next to the door, and the cell door slid open to reveal the other captives.

"Ever think that chick is insane?" Nightmare glared at Trickster and shook his head sharply.

"Shut up. If she hears you, we're dead."

Inside the room, Neko stood in front of the five girls, eyes downcast and hands folded in front of her, "I have bad news for you. I'm afraid one of our experiments went slightly awry. Inside of gaining control over her powers...your friend died."

Jinx, Bumblebee, and Melvin stared. Starfire forced herself to look up, trying to make her drugged mind comprehend what had happened. Kole simply lay on her bed, hearing but not able to react, to scream and rage like she wanted to. Like they all wanted to. Neko smiled gently, then glanced over her shoulder, "Trickster, bring her in now."

The dark haired boy entered the room, carrying the sorceress's body bridal style, her still frame draped over his outstretched arms. There was a wound were her jewel had been gouged out, and marks across her arms and legs were the villains had attempted to recreate Trigon's marks. However, what had most likely killed her was the deep cut that went from her throat to her stomach, "You see, once we realized that we couldn't control her powers, we decided to see what the demon blood had done to her anatomy. She was an amazing science project." Neko giggled and laced her fingers through the dead girl's hair.

The ex-H.I.V.E. student turned her head to stare at the wall as she attempted to choke back the gorge rising in the back of her throat. Sure, she wasn't exactly innocent to crime, to death, to pain. Not only that, but she and Raven hadn't really been friends in any normal definition of the word. Still, to see the hero killed in such cold blood, and to see the perpetrator of the crime so overjoyed by it made even her sick. She couldn't begin to imagine how the girl's teammates and 'daughter' must feel.

The small, blond girl in the corner hung her head, pain written across her features. The recent events had visibly aged the child at least ten years, and as the shock slowly wore off she was sinking into a depression that no one her age should have ever have to feel. Bumblebee simply sat in her jar and stared at the corpse of her friend, unable to tear her eyes away. She really envied Starfire; that girl was so out of it that she probably had no idea what was going on.

Neko's eyes darted around the room and she smirked. Their reactions were just what she had predicted. Anyone who had never worked with a hero before would have expected them to be stronger but she had been watching them long enough to know that there was one very easy way to get to them, and that was their little friends, "Well...I'll leave you alone now. I'm sure you want to mourn." and with that, Neko and the boy left the room, smirking as Melvin's sobs reached their ears.

* * *

A few hours later, the three villains sat perched in various parts of the control room. Neko sat up on a ledge she had coated in pillows, Trickster lay splayed out on the couch, and Nightmare sat in a near-by armchair, easily the most dignified looking of the three. Once again the TV was tuned to news and all three watched intently. 

"...And in other news, the city council has announced hopes that the extra Titans in town will help solve the recent kidnappings. Atleast five young women, ranging in age from 13 to 19, have been pulled from the streets not far from their homes or businesses. The police are following all leads, but so far have no suspects and have already requested that Robin and the other Titans join the search. The request is still under consideration."

Trickster yawned idly and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, "So, they know about the other chicks we kidnapped. How long do you think it'll be until the Titan geeks make the connection?"

"Probably never." Once the newscaster had switched subjects she had pulled out a magazine, a magazine that her distinctly feline nose was now buried in, "From what I've seen, those idiots are still running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"Nice analogy." Nightmare leaned farther back in his chair and continued to listen to the newscast. "But we shouldn't be so sure. Pride comes before the fall, oh fearless leader."

Neko hissed and glared at the boy that bad dreams were literally made of, then pulled her magazine back up, "I know what I'm doing, _oh foolish minion_." Malice and venom dripped from every word and he cringed, instantly regretting his comment.

"Dude, I thought you had learned not to piss her off." Trickster smirked from the couch. It was a lesson he had learned quickly, after she had helped train his powers. She hadn't wasted any time in telling him that how he could express his gratitude, and that was something he had made sure not to forget.

Nightmare glared at the other boy, unable to contain a small sigh of relief as Neko ignored them. He had never been so happy that she had switched into her 'Let's ignore the pathetic males' mode, but he couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that something was wrong.

* * *

"Shit." A masked boy paced back and forth across the control room, ignoring the terse looks on the rooms other occupants. "Shit shit shit shit..." 

"Dude, there are little kids in the room, and that's not helping." Speedy glared at the boy wonder, not even flinching as the other boy turned on him.

"Well excuse me! I keep forgetting you two have no stake in this. We're up against a new villain, a villain with immensely dangerous powers if what your _boyfriend_ has told me is true."

The archer's eyes narrowed and he stood, fists clenched, "You pompous son of a bitch! My leader, who just happens to be one of my best friends, was taken by that psychopath! And if you ever talk about him like that again..." The two stood nose to nose, the threat hanging in the air. Neither looked away, even as Teether began to bawl again.

Kid Flash finally stood, eye twitching, "If you two don't shut up and start working together, we might lose all of them forever! Haven't we been over this?"

Beast Boy slammed his head against the table and glared, teeth gritted in frustration, "JUST SHUT UP!" The green boy screamed, not bothering to stand or even look at the others. Timmy's sobs joined Teether's, cracking all the windows in the room almost instantaneously. He buried his face in his arms, trying to hide the tears trickling down his cheeks.

"..." Speedy scowled then turned and swept Teether into his arms, determined to still the child's cries. Aqualad sent Robin one quick glare before turning to help his teammate, while Cyborg and Kid Flash attended to Timmy.

"This is all pointless, man." Cyborg muttered, allowing himself a ghost of a smile as Mas y Menos rushed in to help calm the young boys, "Every second we spend fighting each other is another second we could be searching for this guy. We have a description from BB, and an idea of his powers...we just need to run a scan of known villains."

A beat of silence passed, then Robin nodded and turned to the computers, "Good idea, Cy. If you can keep those two," At this comment he jerked his head towards Timmy and Teether, "entertained, then I'll handle this." Speedy hesitated, about to complain, but was silenced by a look from Aqualad. The last thing they needed was another fight; all that was important now was finding the kidnapper and rescuing their friends.


	6. Almost Out

Title: I can  
Pairings: Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
Warnings: Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Humor  
Rating: R 

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Here it is. It's almost done. Enjoy.

* * *

It hurt. Oh, god, it hurt. Her chest ached from the sobs that had been almost constant for the past 3 hours, and her heart felt like it was devouring itself. The other occupants of the small room had finally fallen asleep and she felt a strange mixture of love and contempt. They had left a small girl to cry alone, but at the same time they had held back their tears and comforted her as best they could right up till the point they fell asleep.

She was exhausted. Her body and mind, already weak, were quickly deteriorating under the stress that was far too much for her young psyche to handle. Unknown to her, someone was watching her every move with a panicked sort of intensity. Beyond the mirror was an even smaller, circular room, and within it sat a certain distressed half-demon.

When Trickster had arrived in the room, her only hope was that he had brought more drugged food with him, so that she wouldn't actually have to pay attention to what he was planning to do. Much to her surprise, he had simply smirked and flipped off the lights, leaving her in a darkness that was so sudden that she lost her vision temporarily. After her eyes had adjusted, she had been greeted by an odd glow from the wall. What she had once believed to be a mirror was now obviously a window, and on the other side lay, sat, and hung her friends.

Starfire was strapped to the wall, muttering in a restless sleep. Jinx sat in a chair by her, her broken arm strapped to her in a way that would heal it correctly, but cause her more pain along the way; if they had that much time, that was. Kole lay on a bed, stuck in her crystal form, and Melvin sat beside the bed, head hanging but still awake and sobbing.

Raven whimpered, wanting nothing more then to be angry but feeling only despair. They had captured all of them, abused Melvin, tortured her friends, and killed Bumblebee...she wanted to maim. To be free to get revenge. So why was she crying? Crying was bad! Crying showed weakness, and all she should want to do was hurt Neko and the others.

What had this done to her? They had inhibited her powers, but why was that affecting her emotions? She had always been in touch with them, but because of the spells she couldn't even meditate to find out what was wrong.

And something was seriously wrong.

* * *

Bumblebee was pissed. The only good thing was that the little girl had finally stopped crying. It was only because she had fallen asleep, but it still counted. Now was time for action; their captors had had no qualms about killing Raven, so any of them could be next. There was only one problem. How were they going to escape?

Unconsciously she began her usual habit of speaking out loud, for no other reason then to see if her ideas made any sense once they were spoken.

"Star's drugged, can't use her powers. Maybe if she just pretended to eat?" The miniature girl started pacing the length of her jar.

"It wouldn't work. She's too drugged to stop eating drugged food." Jinx's voice broke her train of thought and made her jump. The pink haired girl sat up straight in her chair, eyes bright and oddly alert for someone who had just been asleep. The girls eyes met calmly and they easily began trading more ideas.

"Do you even know Melvin's powers?"

Bumblebee shook her head, "Nope. I doubt she has that good of control over it, anyways."

Jinx's gaze shifted to the jar, "That has holes in the lid, right?"

"Well, considering I'd be dead by now if their wasn't, yes."

"Huh. Try opening it."

The small girl blinked, "What?"

"Try and unscrew the lids. You can use the holes." Jinx's reply was oddly patient, and only someone listening closely could have detected the underlying annoyance that her good mood was trying to hide. Bumblebee caught the emotion and squared her shoulders before glaring at the lid of her prison. It might actually work, surprisingly, though she doubted Neko had been careless enough to not glue the lid on. Still, it was worth a shot.

After steeling herself for a long second she darted upwards and wrapped her right through two holes, and the left through two more about half an inch away. The lid had been punctured downward, so as she fought with it, long cuts appeared in both palms, and she had to move because the original holes were slick with blood. She strained, but, as she had suspected, nothing happened except for getting blood everywhere. With a dejected sigh and a small whimper she flopped to the bottom of the jar, tore off her pant legs to the knees, and began wrapping the wounds.

"Well. That worked. Thanks, Ji-- AHHH!" Glass exploded around her and she went flat against the remains of the jar, eyes wide. Around her lay the smoking remnants of her prison, but she had no idea how it had happened. The shock had frozen her heart in her chest momentarily, and as her body struggled with that and the blood loss, she fainted.

Jinx gaped at the destruction, then turned warily to look at the glaring girl hanging next to her, "Huh. It looks like Star is better."

* * *

Their next door neighbor blinked, then frowned. She had seen all of what had just happened, or so she believed, but didn't know what to make of it. Starfire had been watching something in the corner, a look of sleep induced stupidity on her face. Then that had begun to fade, and anger and fear had replaced it. She had glared, her eyes had begun to glow, and something glass had exploded.

She had no idea what Starfire had gotten so angry at, but she really wanted to know. A camera? Maybe, but that couldn't explain the look on her face. Raven had only seen that when someone had tried to hurt one of her friends. It was Star's 'You touch them and I'll kill you' look, and it was really hard to make her mad enough to use that expression.

The effort seemed to have been too much for her, however, as the alien slumped in her bonds and slipped back into sleep, have only escaped the tranquilizers long enough to release that one destructive blow.

All she could do now was sit and watch, and hope her friends made it out alright. Though by now she was convinced that if she escaped from this, anyone who ever attempted to mae her sat back and wait would be destroyed. Painfully.

* * *

She was beginning to hate her powers. Sure, they were all confused about one thing or another, but she had no idea what was going on. All she had heard since that terrible announcement had been Melvin sobbing and the others comforting her. Then all of a sudden, there had been a flash of bright green, an explosion, and a piece of glass had 'ping!'ed off of her cheek.

Any and all attempts to turn her head or transform back had been met with a stubborn resistance from her powers, and she was being to fear that they would never escape. Or worse, that they would, but that she wouldn't be able to help.

* * *

Robin paced. The others watched. Not overly surprising, but it was really starting to wear on Beast Boy's nerves. He sat on the couch watching his fearless leader walk back and forth, back and forth. The only distraction from the repetitive and oddly hypnotizing movement was the baby that sat balanced on his knee. Teether had only recently learned to walk, so he wanted to explore his new found ability. It took all of the shape shifter's concentration to keep the child in one place, but at least it was a distraction from the incessant back and forth movement.

A few more minutes passed. Robin thought. Robin paced. Back. Forth. Back. Forth.

"Ahh!" Cyborg finally yelled and slammed his fist onto the arm of the couch, "Are you going to tell us what you found out, or just keep pacing? Because if that's all you had planned for today, I'm gonna go back to my room and do more scans!" The threat was half hearted, and his tone was weary, but it did the trick. Robin glanced up, blinked, shook his head to clear it, then turned on the TV. He quickly turned to a news station and motioned for the others to listen.

"Thanks Jerry! And in other news, one of the kidnapped girls was found today. The police are withholding the details, but the girl, Caroline Finney, age 15, was found by the docks. It appears that she died of a heart attack, which the authorities say is strange not only because of her young age, but because of her good health. If you have any details, plea--"

The mask boy hid the screen, then turned to the others, grim faced, "Do you know what this means?"

"That...they found of the girls that was kidnapped?" Kid Flash ventured, blinking.

"Yes, but more then that. Have any of you heard of a villain calling himself 'Nightmare'?"

The others exchanged looks then shrugged, and Cyborg spoke up, "He's a petty thief in the southeast, isn't he?"

"Well." Robin crossed his arms and frowned, "He was. Apparently, about a year ago, a girl showed up and bested him."

"A hero?"

"No. Another villain. Not long after that, both disappeared. No one heard from them for another two months or so. Then there were reports of a duo robbing banks. They found another boy in a town about five hundred miles were Nightmare was from, and all three disappeared. All of this took about three months."

Speedy frowned and leaned forward, "So no one's seen them in nine months? How long would it take them to get here?"

Robin sighed, "That's the unknown factor in all of this. No one seems to know what the girls power is. Nightmare can...well...live up to his name. He apparently creates his victims worst fear, but only in their mind, so that no one else can understand why they're so scared."

"But..." Beast Boy's eyes had widened considerably, "That's what happened to me!" There was a moment of silence as the others considered this, then a collective shudder ran through the room.

It was Garth's job to ask one of the questions that no one wanted to think about, but that needed to be answered, "What is the other guy's power?"

"His name is Trickster." The boy wonder picked up a file from a nearby counter and began flipping through it, "He seems to actually be able to open portals to other dimensions."

"Like Herald?"

"Not exactly. He can store things, and this dimension seems to be his own. His favorite things to hide are bombs, but he stores rope in their too; he was a professional cat burglar before our mystery girl showed up. He can also blend into shadows, and he's used that talent to escape from jail more then once."

"Shit." The archer rubbed his eyes and sighed, "So, how are we supposed to stop them?"

"We can't until we know more about the girl." Kid Flash said grimly, fidgeting in his seat. He had been still for almost an hour now, and all he wanted to do was jump up and run to find Jinx. Needless to say, he wasn't overly happy, but he knew doing that would be suicide.

"One thing confuses me..." Garth frowned, "I thought you said guys had done this for some sick fantasy. Why would a girl make other girls live out their worst dreams?"

Beast Boy slumped in his seat, his ears drooping, "Maybe Trickster and Nightmare are controlling her."

"Nope." Robin leaned against the wall and began playing with a birdarang absentmindedly, "It said in all reports that she was calling the shots."

"Maybe they were wrong!" The others flinched at how harsh Cyborg's voice was, "How good of reporters can they be if they couldn't even find out what her powers were?" The leader simply shrugged helplessly. He had been running through all the scenarios he could think of, but all he had gotten was confused.

"I don't know, Cy."

Kid Flash jumped to his feet, grinning widely, ignoring the others looks of disgust, "Okay, now it's my turn. You guys gather facts, I'll go see if I can find out anything about these three." He was gone before anyone could react, eager to finally be doing something.

* * *

"Thanks Jerry! And in other news, one of the kidnapped girls was found today. The police are withholding the details, but the girl, Caroline Finney, age 15, was found by the docks. It appears that she died of a heart attack, which the authorities say is strange not only because of her young age, but because of her good health. If you have any details, plea--"

Neko flipped off the TV, unaware that up a few levels and across town, Robin was doing the same thing. The main difference between the two groups was the mood.

"Which authorities say is strange!" The cat girl crowed, pleased beyond all expectations. "None of the fools will consider her heart attack to be a result of anything but natural causes for at least a week."

"What about the Titans?" Nightmare sat in his usual chair, smirking and watching his leader bounce around the room playfully. She giggled and jumped onto her perch, purring softly.

"Oh, you silly boy. You think those idiots have even noticed that the kidnappings have happened? I doubt they'll ever make the connection. All we have to do is break their little girls a bit more, then we can use them as bait. And once we've defeated them all...well..." she giggled again, "Everyone will know how weak and pathetic they are!"

"The plan is fool proof, Neko!" Trickster grinned at from the couch, her good mood contagious.

She flipped her hair and curled up, her tail wrapping around her as she continued to purr, "Which is a good thing, eh, Trickster?"

He ignored the shot and continued to grin. Soon he would be famous, and it was all thanks to the girl. All they had to do was wait for the rest of the Titans, and he had no doubts that they would come.


	7. Unexpected Windfall

**Title:** I can  
** Pairings:** Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
** Warnings:** Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
** Genre:** Action/Adventure, Angst  
** Rating:** R

Summary: The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Going to be longer then I thought, but there shouldn't be more then two chapters left. Have fun.

There are a lot of overlapping scenes in this, but I thought it was necessary.

* * *

"Why are we here again?" 

Robin rubbed at his temples, attempting to ignore Beast Boy. They had heard the same question ten times, mainly because he had fallen asleep during the briefing, and they were all too tired to explain it too him again.

"BB, if you had actually paid attention you would know!" Cyborg snapped at the changeling. Their patience was already worn thin, and none of them could put up with the others for long, and it was starting to show even around strangers.

Beast Boy's ears drooped and he whimpered, "I'm sorry! I just haven't been sleeping well, and..." He flailed his arms, hoping the others would understand what he couldn't currently explain.

"Let's just go. They're expecting us." The boy wonder's voice was harsh and the others winced slightly, following him into the tall building warily.

"What if this lead is a waste?" Speedy didn't even realize he had spoken until Robin yelled at him.

"Then at least we'll have done something good! Now get your ass in gear!"

This mission was quickly becoming even more urgent. They had all learned an important lesson since this had begun; if they lost the girls, they were screwed. Starfire had discovered her importance to the team when she traveled to the future. But did Raven know that she was the only one that could control Beast Boy and keep them on task?

Did Bumblebee know that without her, Cyborg fell to fighting with her team because he couldn't deal with them without her help? Did Melvin realize that she and Raven were the only ones that Teether and Timmy listened too, and that without her, Bobby had a tendency to growl at them? Kole had to know how much she meant to Gnarrk, that he had trouble dealing with society even with her, but that without her he simply curled up in a corner. And Jinx had had as big of an influence on Kid Flash as he had had on her.

Without the girls, they were frustrated, fighting, working hard but getting nowhere.

Did they even know that? If they didn't…and they died…

Thoughts of this nature were evident on every face as a man in a dark blue suit walked towards them briskly. Once he stood in front of them he held out his hand for the leader to shake. "Robin? Hello. I'm Lieutenant Wade. I'm in charge of the investigation."

The boy wonder shook his hand, still looking grim, "Nice to meet you. What do you know?"

"Well." The man hesitated, "The death is very unusual. She was young, in perfect health, but her heart had literally exploded in her chest. It was almost like she had been scared to death."

"What?"

"Yes. It can happen. In fact, it happens to animals like rabbits on a regular basis. Humans are harder to kill this way, though, so the kidnappers had to be doing something fucking horrible to her, if you'll pardon my French."

They already knew this, but the lecture did manage to erase any lingering hopes. Nightmare was indeed in town, and that could only mean the Trickster and the mystery girl were too.

"Alright." Robin shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to eliminate thoughts of failure, "So, what can we do to help?"

* * *

The control room was quiet for once. Nightmare was still asleep, Trickster was off somewhere, practicing no doubt, and she had time for herself. 

The cat girl stretched then began to pace thoughtfully. She hadn't visited her prisoners for a few hours now, but Raven was no threat, and all of the others had gotten double amounts of stun drug last time they had been fed.

This was all going so perfectly! It had taken longer then planned, but that was all right. Raven's room had been hard to construct, and it had taken lots of testing before it was ready for her. It was all worth it now though. None of them would ever escape.

One of the only problems was the need for test subjects. They would have used people with no connections, but that might have react differently. The hypnotism needed to be keyed for it's captive; young, female, introverted, with lots of loved ones to exploit.

What amazed her most were the spells. They had been hard to track down. Ones to control her powers, and underneath that, more subtle ones that she had no doubt missed. They controlled her mood, making anger impossible to feel. All Raven could feel was apathy, and depression, if they had worked right, and considering the way she had reacted to Bumblebee's 'death', she was sure they had.

Neko giggled, then flopped on the couch and smiled. She would visit the little demon soon, and perhaps she would find out if the prisoner could feel anything else. The cat girl was bored with mind games; the next time she visited her captives, she meant to show them what her claws could do.

* * *

"I'm hungry." 

Jinx turned her head slightly to look at the girl. It had been hours since Trickster had been in to feed them, and she didn't know if the idiot had forgotten, or if this was simply another torture method, "I know Melvin. I am too."

"Is Bumblebee awake yet?" The young girl lay hunched her corner, too weary to strain her neck to look at the table where the unconscious girl laid.

"No."

"...Starfire?"

"No."

Melvin's face scrunched up and Jinx turned, not able to deal with tears this point. She never expected what came next.

"aaaAAAHHH!" The girl was nine. In other words, young, even for the Titans. She had never experience horrors like this. True, none of them had, but she had no defenses built. She was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. She had seen her big sister/mother figure's corpse, and she could not deal with it anymore. She wanted to go home, and with no way of doing that, she simply did what all children do at least once.

She threw a tantrum.

"I want Raven, I want Bobby, I HATE YOU!"

Jinx shrunk back in her chair, eyes wide, as rocks simply appeared in front of her and aimed themselves at the mirror. The screams and sound of glass shattering mingled together, and it took her a few seconds to realize that two new voices were in the mix.

"MELVIN!"

"WHAT THE HELL?"

* * *

Trickster walked through the corridors of their lair, smirking to himself. He had found more storage space in his little dimension, and that meant a chance for more havoc to be wreaked. 

He entered the control room and waved to his leader, who gave him a cheery smile in return, "Hey. Trickster, how much extra stun potion did you give them? I need to know when they'll be awake enough to feel pain."

"...Stun potion?" Amazing how quickly she could destroy his good mood. Her smile faded slightly and she began to walk towards him.

"Yes, extra stun potion. You know, the stuff you were supposed to give them the last time you went in to feed them?"

"Oh! Yeah! Um." He grinned and shrugged, "Give 'em another hour."

Her smiled returned and with a nod and a giggle she hopped up onto her perch. Sure, he hadn't actually fed them, but an hour would give him enough time to feed them a little less them the usual dose, and they would be in the mood she wanted them to be in. He planned on doing it right away. But he had time for a few rounds on the game station, right?

* * *

Raven sat staring into the window, watching her friends, eyes dull. Melvin looked like she was about to cry again. Jinx was turning away, a pained look on her face. Then suddenly, the little girl began to scream. 

"I want Raven, I want Bobby, I HATE YOU!"

She barely registered what happened next, saving herself by reflex and not thought. She strained forward, head ducking down, and winced as a shard of glass struck her shoulder. As much as it hurt, it could have been much worse, and she counted herself lucky for that.

After a few seconds it registered that her friends could now see her, and sat up straight, interested in life for the first time in days. "MELVIN!"

* * *

Bumblebee woke slowly, the murmur of voices sounding very dream like. Jinx…and Melvin. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that Starfire must still be asleep, no doubt exhausted from fighting the drugs enough to break the jar. 

Suddenly, she heard screams, then a crash, then a voice that she had never expected to hear again.

"MELVIN!"

She bolted up, the sounds working together to finally bring her fully back to consciousness, and she screamed her question to the girl that she believed to be dead. "WHAT THE HELL?"


	8. Captured!

**Title:** I can  
**Pairings:** Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
**Warnings:** Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
**Genre:** Action/Adventure, Angst  
**Rating:** R 

**Summary:** The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Okay, run while you can. Please. I not only have an idea for a sequel, I have an idea for a sequel to the sequel. They're dark, creepy, and hopefully will not be written. However, if they are, this will lead directly into them. So, if you like this for some reason, leave now before you're stuck reading way more then you should have too.

**Dedicated to**: My (no longer) silent stalker. xDI hope you feel better soon!

* * *

They had searched for hours, and yielded no results. The return to the Tower had been eerily quiet, and the tension was making them all nervous. Robin would have given anything to have Raven with them, to make a sarcastic comment to break the silence, and Cyborg desperately missed Starfire's never ending stream of questions.

Once home, they split up to research, forgoing the third meal in a row without realizing it. Even if their hunger had registered in their exhausted brains, none of them would have been up to eating.

Surprisingly, it was a mistake that made the breakthrough they needed. Beast Boy had clicked a wrong link while surfing the database, and had stumbled across a police report detailing an attack by three mysterious villains that had occurred 10 months back and four states away. He had alerted the others and they had gathered immediately.

"It's Nightmare, all right. The details fit his M.O. perfectly." Robin stood in the front of the control room, the report displayed on the TV so that they could all see it. "And figuring in the timeline, it's safe to say his partners were Trickster and our mystery girl."

"So, can we contact them?"

The masked boy turned a bemused eye on Cyborg. "Already did. They gave me contact info for one of the witnesses. Apparently her husband was killed by the girl."

"How did she not get a good look at her?" Speedy sat on the couch, leaning forward intently. "You think you'd notice something like that!"

"She did. The description is just very…skewed. The attack happened fast, and the woman was in shock."

Beast Boy jumped to his feet, smiling for the first time since the girls had been kidnapped. "Dude! So we just talk to her, and work from there!"

"If she couldn't describe this girl then, then I doubt that almost a year passing will have helped. She's probably forgotten." Aqualad spoke up from his perch between Speedy and Cyborg. Beast Boy seemed to deflate, and sunk back into his seat.

"Oh yeah…"

"We do need to talk to her though. And we need to do it face to face." Robin began to pace, arms folded behind his back and eyes narrowed.

"So we take the t-ship to talk to her."

"Right. But we can't all go."

They paused and traded glances, then all sighed, almost in unison.

"I should stay here. Teether likes me, and I can watch over him and Timmy." Beast Boy glanced at the two young boys, who lay on the end of the couch, fast asleep.

"I'll stay too. I'll watch the twins." Aqualad jerked his thumb towards Mas y Menos.

Robin nodded to the two boys, then eyed the others grimly. "So. Cyborg, Speedy, and I will go."

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" A red blur appeared in the room, a blur that smirked as the others jumped.

"Stop doing that!" Cyborg flailed his arms at Kid Flash, who ignored him.

"I'm in too."

Speedy snorted and rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you can sit still for a five hour trip?"

"Yep! When do we leave?"

The leader paused, at a loss for words, then scowled. "As soon as the ship is ready. We need to get going. They've been gone for four days, and every minute we waste is another minute off their life expectancy."

"It's ready." Cyborg stood and headed towards the door. "Let's get going."

The others trailed after him, throwing glances back at the ones who had elected to stay, and hoping that nothing would happen while they were gone.

* * *

"Y'all sure we're right about this?"

Robin frowned. They were two hours into the trip, and up until now it had been silent. Even Kid Flash hadn't spoken up. "What?"

"What if we're wrong about this?"

Speedy answered before Robin could. "It's the only lead we have, so we have to at least try."

"That's not what I mean. What if we're wrong about the girls?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm pretty convinced they were kidnapped."

Cyborg rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that Robin couldn't see him. "Yeah, but do they need us to save them?" The silence that greeted his comment was thick was confusion. "C'mon. You guys have been fighting next to Rae and Star and Bee for a while now. They're not weaklings."

"They were kidnapped! I don't care if you're worried or not, but I'm not leaving Jinx there!" Flash's voice was terse, and he had lost his trademark grin.

"Hey, man! I'm worried about all of them! Jinx, Kole, Raven, Bee, Starfire, and Melvin! But damn, they have never needed us to save 'em! Remember the time I asked Kole how a little thing like her fought? Rae and Star almost jumped me." He paused, letting the others absorb this. "They're heroes too. We can't forget that."

"Cyborg, heroes or not, they were kidnapped. If some one get kidnapped, they need help no matter who they are." Robin stared ahead grimly.

"Yeah, but man...we've all been acting like they're weak little girls that have no chance if we don't rush in and save 'em!"

"I'm not leaving them there. I don't care how much the statistics change if you're a hero, they need our help."

Cyborg sighed into the oppressive silence, hoping the others wouldn't end up making a stupid mistake because of their worry.

* * *

"Ms. Cavere? May we speak with you?"

The woman that had opened the door eyed them cautiously. She was middle-aged with graying hair and had the look of someone who had lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time. Her eyes were a dull blue, and she viewed them with nothing more then a weary disdain and fear. "What do you want?"

"My name is Robin. I'm with the Teen Titans, from Jump City. We spoke on the phone."

"I already told you, and the police, _and_ the press that I don't remember a damn thing! Why can't you all just leave me alone?"

"Because, ma'am. We believe your husband's killer is in our city, kidnapping young girls."

Dorsey Cavere, who had been Dorsey Tamic only ten months ago, hesitated then stepped back from the door slightly. "Come in. I doubt I'll be able to help, but I'll try."

* * *

"It all happened so fast. We went to pull some money so that we could go shopping. It was a few days from our godson's birthday, and we knew just what we wanted to get him." The harried woman sat perched on an over-stuffed chair, avoiding the eyes of the four boys mashed together on her couch. "We drove up, got out of the car, and a blur appeared. This...creature attacked my husband and slash at his cheek, then disappeared."

"Slashed his cheek?"

"Yes. The autopsy said it looked like a cat had attacked him."

"What killed him?"

"They said he was poisoned. The claw marks were filled with poison."

* * *

"Robin calling Beast Boy. Beast Boy, are you there?"

"Yeah. What's up?" Beast Boy and Aqualad stood in front of the monitor, each holding one of the young boys. Robin stared down at them, his expression a mix of grim disbelief and shock.

"We got a hold of the woman. Her husband was killed by something that she describes as a 'monster with cat-like reflexes. Not much to go on, but I need you two to start searching as soon as possible."

"Got it. Anything else we should look for?" Aqualad frowned as the masked boy paled visibly.

"Y-yes. Poison. If anyone has died of a mysterious poison in the last year, check into it. Robin out."

The two stared at the blank screen, then turned to each other. "Aquadude?"

"Yeah?"

"Did he say poison?"

"Yeah."

"...Fuck!"

* * *

"Her name is Neko." For once, the speaker was not Robin. Aqualad and Beast Boy stood in front of the others, displaying a fuzzy looking photograph. "She has no powers, per se. She's...some kind of genetic mutant."

The green boy took up the story. "Neko apparently means 'cat' in Japanese. Don't know how she found that out, but it fits her. She's half-cat. Tail, ears, fur, the whole bit. She's 16, and started raiding medical supply shops three years ago, on the west coast. That's how she made the poison."

"That means she's in town." They all turned to Speedy, who flushed lightly but continued. "If she can't teleport, and Nightmare and Trickster can't, they have to be in town. It wouldn't have been safe to transport three superheroes very far, even if they're drugged."

Robin nodded. "You're right. So we have a place to start looking. Kid Flash, can you search the city? Just a quick look around. If you find anything, come back; don't try anything stu-" Before the last words were out of his mouth, the speedster was gone. " -pid. Great."

"So what do we do?"

Ignoring his annoyance for the time being, the masked boy turned to assembly of Titans, all staring at him. "We need to start searching. Flash might find something, but we need to fan out and do more detailed explorations. We'll start where the girls body was found, and work from there."

"Right! Are we splitting into teams?" Beast Boy had sat down, and was now perfectly still except for his knee, which was bouncing Teether gently.

"Yes. But we need someone to stay with them." He motioned to the young boys and tried to ignore it as the changeling's face fell.

"Yeah...okay..." He looked down at the infant, then frowned and looked around the room. "But you have to promise to come get me if you find anything."

"He's already stayed here. I'll watch them." Speedy forced a smile, but his tone was one of disappointment and wariness. Timmy had already bitten him twice, and it was obvious that he expect the child to do it again.

The green boy shook his head. "No. They like me, and I like them, and..." His voice caught. He wanted to say something, to tell them that it was Rae would have wanted, but that sounded so final. It made it sound like she was already dead. With a swift shake of his head, he hugged Teether gently, then looked at the others. "Go. I don't care. Just promise you'll call if anything happens."

"We will BB." Cyborg laid a heavy hand on his friends shoulder, his one human eye filled with worry for his young friend. After brief murmurs from all of them, they filed out of them room, leaving just in time to miss the tears as the flowed freely down Beast Boy's cheeks.

* * *

"Speedy calling Cyborg. You there?"

"Yeah. Find anything?"

"No. You?"

"Nothing. Robin hasn't called in a while though, and neither has Aqualad."

"Shit."

"Don't worry, man. They're big boys."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't worry. Bee was a big girl, and look what happened to her."

"Cyborg?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry man. I didn't mean it."

"Yeah. Listen, I've got to get back to work. I'm sure they'll check in soon."

"Right. Later man."

"Later."

* * *

"Robin calling Cyborg. Robin calling Cyborg!"

"Whoa, calm down! What's up?"

"I need you to get a hold of Speedy and Aqualad right now!"

"Why?"

"Kid Flash found something. I need you guys to get your asses over here right now!"

"You...what?"

"You heard me! Get over here _now_!"

* * *

The boys grimaced and covered their noses as the scent of the sewers hit them. "Of course they're in the sewers. Why the hell do they always have to be in the sewers?"

"Quiet, Speedy!" Robin held his cape up in front of his face, and shuddered. "We need to get in there, now." The group stood in front of a small steel door set into the concrete walls of one of the sewer pipes. Kid Flash had stumbled across it by pure accident, and after questioning all the vagrants nearby he had found out that a boy dressed completely in black had been seen in the area multiple times.

Mas y Menos had conveyed the message to everyone that they couldn't reach by communicator, and they had all gathered. Beast Boy stood in the back, fuming, and finally spoke up. "Dude! Why did we bring them?"

Aqualad glanced over his shoulder where Bobby stood, holding both of the children. "Because. None of us were willing to stay behind."

Gnarrk grunted in agreement, then focused on the door, scowling. "Gnarrk!"

"Quiet." Robin snapped again, then scowled. "The doors locked. So much for subtly..." He threw a small disk at the door, then dived backwards. The others followed, as the explosion that followed deafened them momentarily, and blew the door from its hinges. Once they had their equilibrium back enough to stand, then masked boy threw out his hand. "Titans go!"

They traversed the dark corridors silently, as if trying to make up for the noise created while destroying the door, and all they managed to do was get extremely lost. Ten minutes past, then twenty...still nothing. That alone was eerie; why weren't they being attacked? As if this thought had triggered it, a net placed under their feet jerked up, and they found themselves jumbled together in midair.

"Ow!"

"What the hell?"

"Ah! What am I touching?"

"Gnarrk!"

"Ahhh!"

"Where are they?"

"Crap!"

The cries of outrage and fear echoed around the hallway, and Robin struggled to get his arms loose; they had gotten trapped under his body and someone was crushing him, making it impossible to get free. "Flash! Get out of the net!"

The voice that answered him was muffled. "Would if I could, but I'm crushed between Bobby and Cyborg!"

"Where are the kids?" Beast Boy's frantic voice was the next to speak up.

"They're okay. Bobby's still holding them." Speedy answered him, anger obvious. "And I'd say their lungs are working perfectly, at least."

Silence fell as they each fought. Beast Boy suggested shifting into a large animal, and the frantic disagreements from those around him came almost in unison. Suddenly, the net jerked slightly, and they all yelped. Something flickered in the corner of Aqualad's eye and he froze. The others followed his example, watching the figure, and the next thing they knew they were surrounded by shadows, each posed aggressively and holding the boys lives in their hands.


	9. Freedom

**Title:** I can  
**Pairings:** Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
**Warnings:** Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
**Genre:** Action/Adventure, Angst  
**Rating:** R 

**Summary:** The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **It's finally over! The epilouge will be posted on Saturday. Until then...I am accepting your opinions. What do you think about the sequel? It will be written, but it may or may not be posted here. Keep in mind that it will be dark; darker then this one. As in, young children dieing. If you don't think that it should be on here, then I'll post it in LJ.

**Dedicated to**: All my readers. Hope you enjoy this.

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Both rooms were filled with stunned silence. Shaking her head to clear the last of the wooziness, Bumblebee darted forward to stare through what she had believed to be a mirror. When she finally spoke, her tone was disbelieving. "..._Raven_?"

"_Bumblebee_?"

"GHOST!" Melvin's screech was more then enough to shatter the muffling shock, and Jinx began to laugh.

She was throughly ashamed of her reaction, but it was impossible to stop the giggles. In a last ditch attempt to get her hysteria under control she whipped to the side and slammed her broken arm against the chair. All of the other girls winced as a scream ripped from her throat, but it made the laughter stop. "R-raven? Is it actually you?"

"No. Beast Boy learned how to shift genders."

Bumblebee laughed without meaning too. "Raven! It is you!" The dark skinned girl darted forward and latched onto the sorceress's shoulder, smiling."They told us you died!"

"They told me _you_ died!"

"They tricked us." A cold voice emenated from the corner of the room. "They wished to hurt us, and they succeeded."

Four heads whipped around at once. Raven's eyes met the eyes of her recently awakened teammate and she forced a smile, combating the depression she had felt since she had awoken in the room. "Starfire."

The smile she received was more geniune. "Raven! I am..." The tamaranean struggled with her english vocabulary, then smiled again as she remembered the word she was searching for. "Ecstactic to see you alive and well!"

Melvin pulled at her bonds, trying get a glimpse of the gothic girl. "Raven!" The volume of her voice did not raise, but the tone became more frantic. She had to see for herself, make sure it was real before she would allow herself to calm at all.

Sensing this, Bumblebee flew over and tugged at the young girl's bonds. "Dammit. If I had my stingers...Star, can you get her free?"

"No. I could not without hitting Jinx."

"Raven?"

"My powers aren't working."

"Shit."

Jinx scowled, then swallowed and steeled herself. "Raven, you have healing powers right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Bee, pick up some of the glass and cut my splint."

"...What the _hell_ are you smoking?" Bumblebee spoke for all of them. The girls gaped at Jinx, attempting to understand when she had obtained her masochistic streak. "We have enough problems without letting your arm get worse!"

"It's broken down near my wrist." Her eyes were narrowed determinedly, the pink pupils barely visible.

"And...?"

"And if Raven can handle it, I'll use my powers to shatter the chair she's sitting in."

The sorcerress scowled. "And you need to hurt yourself to achieve this _why_?"

"Because." Her tone was grim, and she carefully avoided the other girl's eyes. "I can use my powers without it, but it works better if I can direct it."

Wincing, Bumblebee flew forward reluctantly and picked up a small peice of glass."Melvin, close your eyes. You don't need to see something like this." Still hesitating, she slowly approached the other girl. "This is the craziest thing I have ever done..." A deep breath, a quick slash forward, and the bandage of the splint was neatly cut. As the arm fell forward to slap against Jinx's leg, the Titan's East leader covered her ears just in time to block the scream.

"SON OF A...!" Jinx threw herself against the back of the chair, tears coarsing down her cheeks. The pain was intense, a spike of fire ripping up and down her arm, but she managed to raise the appendage. A pink glow began to shine through the tears, and with a swift movement and a yelp, the floor, the wall, and the chair Raven was tied to were ripped to shreds. Raven herself was flung against the wall were she lay for a few seconds, moaning.

Melvin cowered back against the bed that Kole lay on, eyes wide as she took in the scene. Starfire hung from the bonds around her wrists, green eyes bright with worry. Jinx, slumped in her chair with her broken arm laying limply in her lap. Raven, still curled up amidst rubble and shards of glass. Bumblebee who hovered next to Jinx's chair, hands still covering her ears as she stared at the pile of debris that had once been a wall.

With a small mutter, the sorceress staggered to her feet and stumbled towards the room where her friends were trapped. "Oww..." Her body ached, but it was worth it as she stepped from the round, sterile room that had been her prison for the past four days. She was instantly filled with an emotion that she sorely missed; anger. As she thought back, her despair disappeared and her hatred increased. "They kidnapped us, trapped us, and tortured us."

Bumblebee scowled. "Don't go postal yet. Some of us are still tied up or stuck as bugs!" Flying up in front of Raven's face, the girl flailed her arms and snarled, attempting to distract her until they were all free.

"Fine." Her eyes continued to glow and aura wrapped around their bonds, snapping them neatly.

Kole instantly changed back to normal and jumped to her feet, sweet face contorted in a glare. "They hurt Gnarrk!" This was an oddly random exclimation, but it was obvious that she had been wanting to say this for a while.

Starfire collapsed to her knees and hissed, rubbing at her aching wrists. "I am not at all happy!" She stood and crossed her arms, eyes beginning to glow a dangerously bright green.

"None of us are." Jinx stood up shakely and hugged her broken arm to chest. "Raven? A little help?"

Raven stepped forward and put her hands over the ex-villianess's arm. A deep cold sunk into her arm as the sorceress's hands were surrounded by blue light. "There. It won't stand up to wieght lifting, but it will get you home." Suddenly, something latched onto her legs, causing her to yelp.

Melvin had been staying back, but as she saw the girl begin to calm, she couldn't help it. With a small cry she leaped forward and clung to Raven, smiling even as tears streamed down her face. "Raven!"

The gothic girl stumbled backwards, then smiled and kneeled, pulling the girl into a tight hug. "They're going to pay for kidnapping you." With a grim scowl, she stood and turned to the door. "Ready to go?" As the others nodded she pulled one arm back, and then blinked.

Bumblebee returned to her normal size and frowned. "Lemme guess. Your powers don't work on it."

"How did you guess?" Raven's response was dry, and to the point. "What now?"

"Let me!" Kole stepped forward, her eyes flashing dangerously. "If I change into a crystal, you should be able to use my body to break the door."

They nodded, glad there was no need to argue about this. Kole shifted, and Starfire grabbed the other girl. One slam against the door and it creak irratably. Two, and it fell outwards into the hall.

They were free!

Neko yawned and streched, then leaped from her perch. It had been an hour exactly (and a long one at that; watching someone else play video games seemed to literally slow time), and she was eager to go 'talk' with her captives. "Wish me luck, Trickster!' She chirped, then skipped from the room.

He grunted, her comment no where close to registering in his brain. But that was okay; who cared what a girl said when there were ninja monkies to fight?

"Be quiet." Raven's soft hiss caught their attention, and she yanked Melvin behind her. "Someone's coming."

Bumblebee shrunked down and flew up to the ceiling, heading towards the humming. Down the corridor Neko was walking swiftly, claws tapping against the stone wall of the hallway. With a small scowl the girl flew back to her friends. One mouthed word, and Raven phased them into the wall.

Neko was on top of the world. She had almost finished what she had set out to do. All that was left was the last breaking of the captives, and then waiting for the boys to arrive. If they never managed to find her, well...she would just have to go looking for them. Public humiliation would be even better.

Suddenly, the lights clicked out, leaving her underground hide out pitch black. "What...?" Something slammed into her shoulder and she yelped, ducking as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Five, no, six figures. Three sets of glowing eyes; pink, green, and black. "H-how did you get out?"

Something collided with her spine, sending her flying. She let her attention roam from the non-glowing girls, and one had snuck up on her. "Let's just call it luck to save time."

"No! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Letting one hand slash out, she laughed as it snagged on skin. The cry of the young girl, apparently the one cut, followed her as she ran down the hallway. All she had to do was get Nightmare, and it would be on her side again. There was nothing to worry about; she was Neko, for gods sake. Stronger then anyone in this building.

She shivered as the tempurature dropped suddenly. Then, much to her suprise, she was running back into the circle of heroes. The demon girl had grabbed her, of course. A yowl of rage, and she kicked out, hoping to cut someone, hoping to hit the four eyed bitch so that she could make a run for it.

"You hurt my friends." The hands on her shoulder were anything but gentle; the girl speaking to her seemed to have iron bars for bones. Another yelp, this one of pain, and she felt herself being dragged up off the ground.

"I killed one of your little friends!"

A soft snort came from her right, and she whipped her head around to stare at the demon. "Don't brag. You hit Starfire, and the Tamaranean body can handle worse things then a little cut."

Neko stare around at the girls, then begin to cackle. They didn't know. They might escape, but one of their number would die anyways. She would win.

Disgusted, Starfire flung her against the wall. A soft 'crack!' and the catgirl was still, her laughter still echoing in the hall.

Nightmare and Trickster sat side by side on the couch, enjoying the freedom that came when Neko wasn't around. They both leaned forward, intent on the video game playing in front of them, and didn't even notice as the door slid open.

One by one, six silent forms filed into the room, faces set and grim.

It was Raven who broke the silence, Raven who stepped forward to land the first blow. "Hello boys. Remember us?"

"Are you sure that's all the rope they have?"

"For the last time, yes."

Raven and Bumblebee secured the three villians, fighting gently as they did so. Neither could actually snap at the other because of simple relief that they were still alive, but they could pretend. Neko, Trickster, and Nightmare sat secured in a little triangle. Arms and wrists were tightly bound with seperate peices of rope, and they recieved a punch to the skull every few minutes to 'keep them asleep'.

Jinx and Kole were keeping watch to make sure no other guards were around. They doubted that there were, but it was best to make sure. Melvin sat on the couch with Starfire, putting a bandage on the Tamaranean's cut. As she finished up, Jinx turned to the others. "Movement on the first floor. Guess you were right, Bee."

"Trap set."

"We've got 'em!"

"Move in. Remember; surround them."

"They're...crying...?"

"Wait! Don't attack!"

"Holy shit!"

"Raven, cut the net loose!"

The net and it's many captives fell to the ground with an audiable 'oomph!'. The girls rushed forward, not really trusting their eyes. Spread out on the ground was the boys!

Bobby stood slowly, hugging to young boys to his chest, and gave a cry of delight as he saw Melvin rushing towards him. The others climbed to their feet and gaped at their female counterparts. Robin staggered, took a few steps towards them, then swept Starfire and Raven into a tight hug. "You're alive!"

The others rushed to their loved ones, laughing and exchanging hugs. Beast Boy tripped multiple times as he ran through the crowd, trying to tackle them all at once. The hallway was no where near as dark now; between the glow of multiple powers and the joy they felt at being back together, it was as if a shaft of sunlight was hitting them.

It wasn't until the festivites died down a bit that Cyborg noticed the cut on Starfire's cheek. They all had worse injuries, but that one cut had caught his attention. Maybe it was just the lighting, but the skin looked inflamed. "Woah! Star, what happened?"

"Neko cut me." She rubbed at the bandage, wincing slightly as she did so. It was starting to hurt a bit more, but she had been ignoring it.

The color dropped from the boy's faces. Raven frowned and hugged Timmy and Teether closer as she saw their expressions. "What?"

"Did she hit you with her claws?"

"Yes..." The Tamaranean's voice was hesitant, and Robin interrupted before she could say anything else.

"Raven! Heal her!"

"What?"

Wally grabbed her arm and began to drag her towards Starfire. "Just do it!"

The girls exchanged nervous glances, but Raven did as she was told. The swelling went down and Starfire smiled. "Thank you, Robin. But I have not needed to be healed for such small injuries before."

"Neko puts poison on her claws. You're lucky to still be alive." Aqualad's voice was grim, and as the words sunk in Starfire paled slightly.

Bumblebee scowled and crossed her arms. "Goddamn bitch!"

"Um...hey. Speaking of that, where are they? And...how did you guys get free?"

Kole gestured. "Two floors below us."

"And our harrowing tale is a long one." Jinx stretched and sighed. "Let's call the cops so that we can go to the Tower. I want out of this place."

"Yeah. I'm glad you guys are alive. We were so worried that we wouldn't get here in time..."

"Beast Boy." The girls turned to him, smiling grimly. "If we've told you once, we've told you a million times. We don't need you to save us. Now let's go home."

"Hey, you should be nicer. If it wasn't for us, you wouldn't have known about that poison."

Bumblebee smirked at Speedy. "We would have figured it out. Besides, Star's strong as hell. I doubt it would have killed her."

"Yes. I am amazed it affected me at all." Leaving the boys to clean up, they headed towards the exit, desperate to taste fresh air and be free. Neko was one fucked up psycho-path, but she had helped them teach the boys one thing; they could take care of themselves.


	10. Epilogue

**Title:** I can  
**Pairings:** Implied RobxStar, BBxRae, BumblebeexCyborg, JinxKidFlash, definate AqualadxSpeedy  
**Warnings:** Sexual situations, bad language, slash, violence, dark situations, threats of rape, implied character death  
**Genre:** Action/Adventure, Angst  
**Rating:** R 

**Summary:** The girls can take care of themselves.

**A/N: **Here it is, last chapter. Enjoy. The sequel will be up...whenever I feel like writing it. xD

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"This movie sucks." 

"Hey, maybe next time you can actually get up off the couch and go with me! Then it won't suck."

"Even if he goes with it'll still suck."

"Yep. The movie won't change just because you both go to the store."

Laughter from the group. It was times like this that they were thankful for how big the couch was. Raven sat at the edge of the group, Beast Boy's arm around her waist. Bumblebee lay with her head against the arm, her legs across Cyborg's lap. Starfire and Robin lay snuggled up in the middle. Kid Flash and Jinx sat between them and Cyborg, while Aqualad and Speedy sat on their other side.

Speedy pulled Aqualad closer and scowled. "Next time, we don't let the girls pick the movie."

"Hey." Raven snorted. "Don't blame me. This was Beast Boy's idea."

Flash smirked at the green boy. "You picked out a chick flick?"

"Robin told me to."

"Robin?"

"Star likes them! I was just trying to make her happy!"

"Thank you Robin..." The smile that appeared on Robin's face as Star kissed made the others laugh. It had been five months since their detainment, and things were slowly returning to normal. The six girls had to share a room for a month, just to assure themselves that they were all okay, and Melvin had only recently stopped having nightmares, but all of this was to be expected. They knew that they had to keep living and enjoying themselves, or Neko really would have won. Slowly, the laughter and jokes became less forced and joy came back to the Tower.

"I know why Robin really wanted a chick flick." Cyborg laughed as the masked boy glared at him. He pulled Bumblebee closer and pretended to hide behind the laughing girl. "Whoa, calm down Rob!"

"I do not understand."

Raven threw the other girl a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about it. They're just being idiots."

Jinx nodded and leaned her head against her boyfriends shoulder, smirking slightly. "It's what they're best at."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Aqualad laughed. "We get it. We're morons." He paused for a second, then said thoughtfully; "Hey Raven, have you heard from Melvin lately?"

"Yes. She's doing much better. The monks are helping her to control her powers, and she's been too tired to dream about anything." Raven's eyebrow arched slightly as the movie ended. "Finally..."

Flipping the channels casually, Robin frowned as a news alert caught his attention. "What the...?"

"...Authorities say that she is armed and dangerous. I repeat, the dangerous criminal Neko has escaped jail. If you see her, call this number immediately. Do _not _attempt to detain her on your own. Call this number if..."

They flipped the television off and simply sat in shocked silence. It was Beast Boy who, hugging Raven closer, spoke up first. "What do we do now?"

"I guess...we find her."

"And this time, we won't be so nice."


End file.
